Super Alex
by pcworth
Summary: While fighting an alien together, Alex accidentally ends up with Supergirl's powers.
1. Chapter 1

Alex's instincts were honed into protecting her little sister. It didn't matter that her sister was Kryptonian and therefore bulletproof on the planet Earth, it was just instinct that made Alex react when she saw the gun pointed at Kara.

Besides this was no ordinary gun.

They were in the middle of a fight with a group of Fort Rozz aliens who had banded together. The DEO had tracked them to some warehouses at the port. Alex had led her strike team in and things immediately took a hostile turn. Kara had reacted after hearing the shooting on the coms – heading to their location, her concern first and foremost for her sister.

Kara and the leader of the aliens had battled inside, but now they were going to toe-to-toe outside where rain was pouring down in sheets. Thunderstorms had been battering the city for the last 40 minutes with only a short reprieve before another round came through.

The alien punched Kara and she slid back against one of the metal pylons on the dock. Alex, who had followed them out, saw the alien pull out a gun and she went running for her sister while firing her own weapon at it. Kara was in the process of getting to her feet, using the pylon to steady herself, when three things happened nearly simultaneously.

Alex reached her putting herself between Kara and the alien. The alien had already fired its weapon and some sort of energy blast hit Alex, knocking her back against Kara just as lightning struck the metal pylon right where Kara was touching it. The lightning passed through Kara and into Alex and both women were blasted apart from each other.

The alien saw both women on the ground as the other DEO team members came out with their weapons raised so he ran.

Agent Collins was the first to reach Alex and saw that a hole had burned through her protective suit that was covering her chest. He tried to rouse her, but she didn't wake even as another agent called in a medavac. Supergirl was also down on the ground but she was already coming awake.

"Alex," she said, opening her eyes and panicking as she saw the other agents but not Alex. She rolled over, her body aching but her mind only partially recognizing it, as she got to her knees and saw Alex on the ground surrounded by her fellow DEO operatives. She got to her feet with someone's help, even as she felt dizzy, but she made it over to Alex determined to pick her up and fly her to the DEO.

But as she bent over to pick her up, she found she couldn't. She started breathing more heavily as she realized she felt normal – human normal. Her powers must have burnt out – a solar flare – but she hadn't overexerted herself so she didn't understand why this was happening now.

"My powers, they're gone," she said, knowing the command team back at the DEO were listening. "Alex is still unconscious. I can't fly her."

She heard J'onn's voice telling her that it would be ok and a medavac was closing in on their location. Kara saw the hole in Alex's suit, and the skin underneath it was red like she had a bad sunburn. She kneeled next to Alex, needing to be close to her, needing to see the rise and fall of her chest since she couldn't hear Alex's heartbeat any longer. "Come on Alex, wake up," she said. But her sister remained unconscious even when the medical team arrived and got her onto a gurney for transport. Kara wanted to ride with them but there was no room so she had to get a ride back with the DEO team.

Kara went straight to the medbay, more concerned about Alex than her own powers right now. J'onn met her there and asked her what had happened. After she debriefed him, all they could do was wait until one of the doctors came out to tell them how she was.

"I need to call Maggie," she said.

"She's already been contacted and is on her way," J'onn said. "Sit down. How are you feeling?"

She took a seat as instructed and shrugged a little. "I feel human," she said. "My body aches from whatever it was that happened out there. I'm tired, I'm hungry and none of that matters right now, Alex does."

"Alex is the toughest agent I have ever trained," he said. "She'll pull through this and I'm sure the first thing she is going to do is ask how you are."

Kara knew he was right – that Alex would worry more about her than herself. But Kara couldn't help but feel like this was her fault. Alex was always trying to make sure she was ok and that was why she was lying in the medbay now. She knew Alex would tell her that she was just doing her job, but Kara was worried about how much Alex could take.

The door to the medbay opened and one of the doctors came out. "Director, you might want to come in here," he said.

Kara was on her feet following J'onn in regardless of the fact she wasn't invited. Powers or not, she wasn't going to be stopped.

She could see that Alex was still unconscious on the bed, but they had removed her armor and she was down to her tank top. Every one seemed to be standing around the bed but not actually doing anything.

"What is it?" J'onn said.

"This," the doctor said and he nodded to the nurse standing closest to Alex. She had a syringe in her hand and when she tried to inject it into Alex's arm the needle snapped. A nurse on the other side of her tried that arm with the same results.

J'onn immediately turned and looked at Kara who had no explanation for what she was seeing, except for the one that J'onn was also thinking – somehow Alex had her invulnerability. And if she had her invulnerability what else did she have?  
…

Maggie was pacing back and forth, trying to understand what it was that J'onn had just told her. She had rushed to the DEO after Winn called her to say Alex was hurt. She had been at home, watching TV, knowing that Alex was working that night and she wouldn't be seeing her. Getting this kind of call was something she had been dreading because she knew what Alex did for a living was just as dangerous if not more so than what she did for a living.

Now she felt like she was getting a little taste of what several of her past girlfriends had complained about. When they knew she was working late and it got to be even later, she would invariably have to hear how worried they were for her and how she should have called them sooner to let them know she was safe. She had pretty much blown such comments off. After all, the women knew what her job was so the way she saw it, these things should be expected.

But now that she was with Alex her attitude had changed. She wanted to hear from Alex as soon as a mission was over, even if it was just a text to say she was ok.

Whatever had happened in this mission it was clear Alex was not ok.

"So, you are saying that Alex has Kara's powers," she said.

"We don't know for sure," J'onn said. "But she does appear to be as invulnerable as Supergirl. We won't know more until she wakes."

"And Kara, your powers are gone?"

Kara merely nodded in response. She knew about the solar flares that sapped Kara's powers away in the past, but this was something different all together. She couldn't imagine what that was like for Kara. Already, the young woman looked more beleaguered than Maggie had ever seen her before.

Maggie looked over at Alex who was still unconscious on the bed. They had also told her that they believed if Alex did indeed have Supergirl's invulnerability that it probably saved her life.

While Maggie was grateful that, she also planned on having a long talk with Alex about jumping in front of alien guns.

"If she does have Kara's powers, I assume you all are trying to find a way to put them back where they belong," Maggie said.

"Of course we will, but first we need Alex to wake to see if she has all the powers. And we also need to find out what that weapon was that hit her," J'onn said. "This isn't the first time we have had a situation where Supergirl was struck with lightning while in contact with something."

"Oh yeah, Livewire," Maggie said. "Alex told me about her. Well, let's hope my girlfriend doesn't wake up with a desire to be a criminal with bad hair."

"That's not what I'm worried about," Kara said.

"I was just joking. Trying to keep it together over here."

"I know," she said, her voice sounding tired. "It's just when I first came here to Earth. My powers started to kick in. The way I am here, that's not how I was back on Krypton. The sun here is different. When my powers began, it wasn't always easy for me. Like my hearing. I could hear everything and it was so loud it was overpowering until I learned how to concentrate on certain sounds. My strength, well, I broke a lot of things before I got the hang of how much force to use on something as simple as a fork."

"You think that it will be like that for Alex?" Maggie asked.

"I don't know. I hope not. I'm not sure I would have gotten through it without Alex."

"If it does happen, we will do whatever we can to help her," J'onn said, trying to reassure them both.


	2. Chapter 2

A thumping noise was the first bit of consciousness Alex experienced. Her eyes were still closed, but the noise was quickly breaking through her sleep. Her mind began to register it and as she became more aware of it, it started to increase in tempo. Quicker and louder it got until it got to the point it was almost painful.

And there was another noise, very similar but a slower pace. It was like two drums beating.

Only then did she open her eyes.

"Alex," Maggie said.

Alex sat up, unsure why Maggie was yelling.

"Are you alright, sweetie?"

Alex had to block her ears Maggie was talking so loud.

"Why are you talking to loud?" she said, although as she heard her own voice, it too sounded loud even as he kept her hands on her ears.

"I'm not," Maggie said, even though it sounded quieter this time and Alex lowered her hands. "It's your hearing, it's been enhanced."

It still sounded louder than normal speech, but not so loud that it bothered her this time.

"What do you mean?"

"You and Kara … there was a lightning strike and her powers transferred to you. I'm actually whispering right now."

Alex's eyes got wide at this.

"How's Kara doing?" she said, forgetting to lower her own voice and wincing a little at the decibel level.

"Kara's fine. It's like one of those solar flare things," Maggie said. "She's more worried about you. They sort of figured you got her powers when they couldn't get an IV to go into your skin. It broke the needles every time they tried."

"Have they figured out how to get her powers back in her yet?"

Maggie shook her head no. "We don't even know if you have all of her powers."

In a moment of silence between them, Alex realized that the original noise she had been hearing – the drums – were still there and she looked at Maggie, knowing suddenly it was her heartbeat and her own that she was hearing.

Hers was the one that was beating fast.

"I need to speak to Kara," Alex said, as she moved to get out of bed, she placed her hand on the rail of the bed and it snapped off in her hand.

"Yeah, maybe you should just lay there. I will go see where Kara is," Maggie said. She stood, but before leaving the room, she leaned over and kissed Alex on her forehead and took the broken rail from Alex's hand. "I'm just happy you are ok."

Maggie had barely left the room when Alex began to carefully get out of bed – moving as slow as possible. She thought about when Kara had first come to live with them and how everything those first few days was in super speed as it took Kara a while to learn to do things at a slower pace. Alex, unsure of herself, was moving as slow as possible. She managed to get out of the bed without breaking anything and she felt momentarily proud of herself.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad she thought. She just needed to be careful until they could figure out how to get Kara her powers back.

She went over to the closet hoping that someone had the good sense to put some clothes in there for her. She pulled open the door, forgetting to be careful already and pulled it off its hinges.

"Damn it," she swore – too loudly, causing her to wince.

Propping the now useless door up against the wall, she found that someone had indeed brought her some clothes – most likely Maggie since the clothes were from her apartment. She had even packed them in a bag for her, so Alex grabbed it and headed toward the bathroom but she turned to quickly – in a hurry to get changed – and in less than a blink she had hit the far wall and burst part way through it before she could stop herself.

"Escaping already?"

Pulling herself out of the wall, she turned to see Maggie, Kara and J'onn there. Of course, it was Maggie making the smart ass remark.

"Kara, are you ok?" Alex asked, coming up to her, looking at her from head to toe.

"I'm ok," she said, giving her sister a hug. She realized that Alex didn't actually hug her back and as she stepped back, she could see a look of sadness on Alex's face.

"I don't want to risk hurting you," Alex offered up as an explanation and then she glanced over at the wall she had already broken.

Kara just nodded, understanding that Alex didn't trust herself with these powers. She knew the feeling well. Even though Clark tried to explain what it would be like as her powers kicked in on Earth, she was still unprepared for what it was like. Everything was overwhelming and it had scared her. Looking at Alex now, she saw a small bit of that fear.

"Where are we in figuring this out?" Alex asked J'onn.

"Not very far. We were waiting for you to wake so we could see if you indeed have all of her powers," J'onn said. "Plus, we are still trying to track down the alien that shot you."

Alex looked down at her chest a moment, remembering now that she had been shot. She touched her chest where she had been hit.

"There was no damage," J'onn said. "We suspect that you got Supergirl's powers at the same time as you were hit with whatever the energy was from the alien's gun. It probably saved your life."

Alex's eyes again went to Kara. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen," she said. "We'll figure this out and get your powers back."

"You don't have to apologize. I would gladly give up my powers if it meant keeping you safe."

"I …"

One of the DEO alarms went off and the sound brought Alex to her knees as she covered her ears. Maggie knelt beside her, waiting to see if she was ok.

"Winn, shut that alarm off," J'onn barked through the coms.

"Sir, we have a priority alert up here," Winn said.

"I need to get back up there," J'onn said. "Get her back in that bed."

"I'm alright," Alex said, getting to her feet with Maggie's help. "If there is a priority alert, I should go with you."

"No," J'onn said. "Right now the only place you need to be is here in the medbay, or if you insist, in the lab working on this power transference issue. You may have your sister's powers but you don't know how to use them, which makes you a liability. Stay here."


	3. Chapter 3

Alex had reluctantly returned to bed after changing clothes and only because Maggie forced her to. She couldn't help but wonder what the priority alert was all about.

"I should be up there," Alex said not 30 seconds after returning to bed. Again she winced as she forgot to modulate her own voice.

"I know you want to be, but J'onn is right. You may not want to accept it, but he is right," Maggie said.

"But I could at least consult or something," Alex said. "Priority alerts aren't for your run of the mill alien crisis."

"Would you feel better if I went up there and at least found out what was going on?"

As much as Alex wanted Maggie by her side right now, she smiled and said, "thank you."

Maggie leaned over and gave her another kiss. "The things I do for you Danvers," she said.

Once she was gone, Kara, who had been standing in the background came closer to the bed. "Guess, I'm not of much use either right now," she said, taking a seat.

"No, don't say that," Alex said. "How many times have we relied not on your powers, but just your knowledge from Krypton? Besides, even if they don't need you up there, I need you. These are your powers after all and just because I have seen you use them doesn't mean I know how to use them, as evidenced by the wall over there."

That brought a little smile to Kara's face. "Remember when I knocked down the wall in my bedroom?"

"Yes," Alex smiled. "I remember mom and dad's reaction too."

"They never got angry with me," Kara said. "I thought for sure they would be, which is why I went running to you first when it happened."

"They knew it wasn't your fault. What did dad call it, 'growing pains' like it was the most natural thing in the world," Alex said, thinking of her father and how he always seemed to know the right things to say at the right time. She wondered what he would say to her now in her current circumstances. "He was right though. It wasn't your fault. You were trying to adjust, not just to all that had happened to you but to having these newfound powers."

"I don't know that I could have gotten through it without you."

"Sure you would have," Alex said. "You are a survivor. You will always find a way. When you lost your powers after your battle with Red Tornado, you found a way then. Although I am going to suggest you don't try and stop any armed robberies until we get your powers back."

"Do you think we can?" Kara said.

"Get your powers back, yes," Alex said, even as she didn't even know where to begin yet with that problem. "For all we know this is temporary anyway and they will just naturally disappear from me and come back to you. By the way, how is Lena taking this?"

"She doesn't know."

"What do you mean she doesn't know."

"She knows I lost my powers, but she thinks it is just a solar flare and that I am here to stay under the sun lamps to help restore them."

"Why wouldn't you tell her the truth? Kara, I know your dating history is about as bad as mine, but you are in a relationship now and you can't hold something like this back from her," Alex said. "Is there something else going with you two right now? I thought everything was good."

"It is," Kara said quickly.

"Then what's the problem?"

Alex could tell her sister was holding something back, but what that would be she had no idea. In fact, Kara appeared uncomfortable even having this conversation with her. While she had been skeptical about Lena at the start, she had come to believe that Lena really did want to be different from her family and that she genuinely cared for Kara.

It took a moment for Alex to realize the fast beating sound was back, and it wasn't coming from her. She studied Kara a moment, trying to tune into the sound of her heart. It had increased in beats per minute rather rapidly.

"There isn't anything wrong," Kara said. "I'll tell her, I just want to do so in person."

Again, Alex thought there was something else going on there, but clearly her sister didn't want to talk about it.

"Good," Alex said, giving her a reassuring smile or what she hoped was reassuring. "Now, what do you know about what happened to us?"

"Not much," Kara said. "They think it was a little more than the lightning strike, I do know that."

"I don't even remember the lightning," Alex said. "Last thing I saw was the shot from the alien gun."

"You shouldn't have done that, jumped in front of me like that," Kara said. "I know why you did it, and I appreciate that you want to protect me, but you need to stop doing things like that. If anything happened to you because you were trying to protect me … I need you to stop."

"Kara, I'm never going to stop trying to protect you. I don't do it because it my job, I do it because you are my sister. Don't ask me not to do it," Alex said.

Kara looked away from her and then stood up. "You're human," she said. "I don't need you to protect me."

Alex didn't say anything as Kara left the room. She could tell her sister was upset so she didn't press the issue with her, figuring Kara was dealing with enough without her powers. But she knew this was a conversation they would have to continue to have.

It took all of five minutes of her lying there on the bed before Alex was again out of it. She thought Maggie would have returned by now and she was restless already. J'onn told her she couldn't go upstairs but he had said she could go to the lab.

Walking carefully, so she wouldn't crash into anymore walls, she made it to the door. This time she handled it more gently to open it. She took several steps out of the room when she began to hear the different sounds from all around the DEO. Snippets of conversations, sounds of people walking, sounds of even fingers on a keyboard all assaulted her. She put her hands over her ears to block it out, but not even that seemed to be working this time.

"Alex!" Maggie said, seeing her girlfriend drop to her knees in the hallway and running up to her. She picked her up, and helped her back into the medbay room. "What's wrong?"

"It's too much," Alex said. "The noise."

"Ok," Maggie said softly. "Just get back in bed. Why were you leaving anyway? Where'd Kara go?"

"Was going to the lab," Alex said, as she began to recover from all the noise. She could still hear pockets of activity going on, but as she concentrated on Maggie and what she was saying it lessoned. Still, she made no move to get on the bed.

Maggie shook her head. "Alex, you have to rest. You just woke up after being struck by lightning and hit with an alien weapon. I know you want to be able to figure this all out and get Kara's powers back where they belong, but you need to think about yourself as well. Now where is Kara?"

Alex sighed, "She asked me to stop trying to protect her, which isn't going to happen, but she is just upset right now and I get it, her powers are gone and I think there is something else bothering her, something with Lena."

"Wait, she asked you to stop protecting her?"

"Yeah, she said, I was human and she didn't need me to protect her."

"She's right."

"What?"

"She's Supergirl, bullets fly off of her, she's faster and stronger than just about anyone on the planet and as much as you are a badass, you are human. I'm not saying you shouldn't protect her or watch over her, but you jumped in front of her when an alien was shooting at her. You getting her powers probably saved your life. But what if you hadn't gotten her powers? What if you had been killed? Do you think that Kara would want that – you dying to protect her?"

"It was an alien gun of unknown origin. For all we know it could have killed her. Do you think I could have lived with myself if something had happened to her and I stood there not doing anything?"

Maggie knew this was not an argument that they needed to have now and not one she was likely to win. The problem was she could agree with Kara and Alex, but right now she was thinking about how she wanted her girlfriend to be safe.

"I know you can't stand by and not do anything, but could you at least consider how it makes Kara feel when she sees you get hurt and knowing the reason was her. Consider how I feel about it," Maggie said. "Yes, it's your job, but I would like you to survive until old age without something on your body having not been broken at least once."

"What is happening upstairs?" Alex asked, her way of signaling she wasn't ready to discuss this further.

"They think they have a track on the alien that shot you. And before you say it, the answer is no, you aren't going up there, you aren't helping with this, you are going to return to that bed right now. I don't care if you have super powers or not, I will kick your ass if you think about doing anything but getting in that bed."

Alex got into the bed, but crossed her arms after she settled down on it to show her displeasure.

"You are cute when you pout," Maggie said. "Now, I am going to go find Kara, make sure she is ok, and then get her back in here so you two can talk about how to manage these powers until you find a way to return them to her."

"I can't find a way while I am sitting here," Alex pointed out.

"Let me rephrase that, until someone here finds a way to return them."

"You know I can't just stay in here, right?"

"Yes, but for now you can."

Maggie left the room once more and Alex was left alone with her thoughts – thoughts which weren't making her feel better about any of this.

…

"Hey little Danvers," Maggie said after she finally tracked her down – up on the roof of all places. "How are you holding up?"

"Fine, I guess."

Kara was leaning up against the wall, looking outward and hadn't even glanced in Maggie's direction.

"People who answer things with 'fine, I guess' are generally not fine. Is this about your powers being gone or about your sister's heroic yet stupid actions in placing herself between you and an alien? Or does this have to do with Lena?"

Kara did turn toward her this time. "Lena, no. Everything there is fine."

Well that answers that, Maggie thought. "Alright spill, what is going on with you and Lena?"

"Nothing," Kara said. "Everything is great with her. I love her and …"

"And?"

Before Kara could say anything yet another alarm went off.

"That's the fire alarm." Kara said.

Then both women looked at each other. "Alex," they both said before running back into the building.

By the time they got back down to Medbay, they were passing people who were evacuating the area which was quickly filling up with smoke. The fire suppression system had activated and the sprinklers were raining down on them.

"Alex!" Maggie yelled.

"Alex!" Kara yelled when there was no answer. They kept moving closer to the source of the smoke which was also Alex's room. Maggie got there first, again yelling for Alex.

Kara was right on her heels but she stopped, surveying the damage in the room, which had red lines criss-crossing across the room. It was the source of the fire and smoke and Kara recognized it for it was – her heat vision.

"Alex!" Maggie yelled again as she moved around the bed where she saw Alex, sitting in the corner, her hands blocking her ears and her eyes shut tight. "Kara, over here, help me get her out of here."

Between the two of them, they pulled Alex up and got her out of there.

"Are you ok?" Maggie asked Alex once they had her clear, but Alex was still trying to block her ears as the alarm continued to go off.

"We need to get that alarm turned off," Kara said. Just as she said it the alarm shut off and J'onn came up to them.

"Is she ok?"

"I can't stop it," Alex said, the volume of her voice a little loud. Her eyes were still closed. "If I open my eyes …"

"It's the heat vision," Kara said.

"How do we stop it?" Maggie asked.

"Alex," Kara said. "Alex, listen to me. You need to calm down. You need to concentrate on something, something beyond the powers. For me, that has always been you. I listen for your heartbeat because hearing it makes me realize I am not alone in this world. Maggie is right here, try and concentrate on her heartbeat, block out all the other noises and listen for it."

They could only watch as Alex, her eyes still shut tight, but she tilted her head slightly like she was listening for something. Slowly her breathing began to slow down until it was at a constant rhythm and Kara could envision what she was doing because she too had done it – you listen and once you hear that beat you start matching your own to it.

"No one is in front me are they?" Alex asked finally.

"No, the way is clear," J'onn said.

Alex opened one eye and nothing happened so she opened the other and the first person she looked at was Kara. "Thank you."

Kara nodded at her, letting her own relief wash over her.

"What happened?" Maggie asked.

"I don't know," Alex said. "I was …" She paused. "I don't know. It just happened."

Kara knew that Alex was holding something back. When her heat vision activated for the first time she had been upset, she had been very upset. She watched as Maggie hugged Alex but Alex didn't wrap her arms around her girlfriend like she normally would and Kara turned slightly so she didn't have to see it.

If they couldn't get her powers out of Alex, it could be the end of her and Maggie's relationship.

After all, she didn't know where her and Lena stood with things because of her powers.

And right now she couldn't deal with it because right now she needed to teach her sister how to use those powers before she got hurt – or hurt someone else.


	4. Chapter 4

When Kara first came to Earth, Alex wasn't sure what to make of her. Here was this alien child, just a few years younger than her, and her parents were explaining to her how Kara was going to live with them from now on. Not only would she be living with her but Kara would be her sister and it was Alex's responsibility to keep and an eye on her and help her learn about her new planet.

Alex hadn't liked the idea of being saddled with Kara, not in the beginning, but almost immediately she had felt the need to protect her. Back then it was protecting her from the school bullies who didn't understand why this young girl was so strange. And there was protecting others from Kara.

Her body was changing thanks to the Earth and its sun, and Kara was learning not just about her new home but these new powers.

The first time Kara took Alex out for a flight, Alex had marveled at the experience and yes, she wished she had the ability to fly like Kara did.

Now, Alex was pretty certain that was one wish she would never make again.

When it became apparent that Kara's powers weren't going to transfer back to Kara – at least not immediately or on their own, they had discussed the next steps of what to do. The science division was busy working on recreating the circumstances of the transfer to see what they could learn from it.

Meanwhile, Alex had been banished to the dessert base where she was supposed to be learning how to use the powers. It was easier said than done.

For instance, even the ride out to the base was problematic. The problem was the noise. Alex hadn't learned how to tune out all the noise around her and taking her out of the base for a drive to the dessert one was like sensory overload. Alex had made them turn back not five minutes after leaving. Kara tried to explain to her how to concentrate on certain sounds and block the others out. Despite having prided herself on being a quick learner, it was not a concept that Alex was able to pick up at first.

The result was a pair of sound deafening headphones that Alex had to wear for the trip out there. The first two days – days where Alex didn't get to see Maggie - were spent getting the hearing under control. The problem was that despite Kara explaining it, Alex really wasn't catching on until she figured out a more scientific way to explain the process of picking out certain sounds and certain familiar speech patterns. Once she was thinking about in more in regards to the tones she was hearing, she was able to begin shutting off the noises and picking up the ones she wanted to hear.

The next thing they began to work on was her strength. Alex was every bit as strong as Supergirl now, but she also had a trail of broken doors, one more wall and three chairs that she had damaged in some way due to that strength. The problem was that Alex didn't think she was exerting much force at all when she did these things. Currently, they were working on something simple – or rather something that should be simple – picking up a glass, pouring water from a pitcher and drinking the water from the glass without breaking anything.

Alex was moving slow as she poured the water into the glass and slowly put the pitcher down. She was feeling pretty good about how well she was doing this time around, so when she grabbed the glass she did so with a little more gusto than she was planning on.

As the sixth glass shattered in her hand, Alex slammed her fist on the table, which resulted in the entire table collapsing.

Alex looked at Kara who was standing back against the wall at a safe distance. "Don't say it," Alex warned.

"You will get it."

"I told you not to say it," Alex said. She was tired of the positive affirmations Kara kept giving her when she felt like a failure. She had practically grown up with Kara, had witnessed firsthand her adjusting to her powers, yet, Alex could not get the hang of it. "I mean how do you do this? How do you walk around all day and think about the hundred little things you have to do in order to make sure you don't do something stupid like break a glass, or a table?"

"I don't really think about it, not anymore," Kara answered. "It's all instinctual to me now. But you remember what it was like for me in the beginning. Nothing was easy."

"I don't want it to be easy, I just want to be normal again," Alex said, and then she realized what she had said. "I didn't mean normal like normal, but …"

"I know what you meant," Kara said. "Normal for you. Maybe we should take a break."

Alex nodded and they ended up walking out of the base and took seats on a small rock formation nearby.

"I knew it was hard for you," Alex said, glancing at her sister before turning her attention back to the desert surrounding them. "I guess, I didn't really understand how hard it was though. You struggled, sure, and had mishaps but I don't remember it being like this for you."

"But it was," Kara said. "I struggled every bit as much as you are now. Remember how many times Clark had to stop by in those first months I was here. It seemed like every couple of days he was flying in to help me with some aspect of my powers. It wasn't being around him that helped me, it was being around you. I learned how to be human by watching you."

Alex didn't respond, just kept looking out at the land around them.

"Do you want to talk about what happened when the heat vision went off?" Kara asked.

Alex glanced over at her for a moment before returning to looking at the desert. "Nothing happened," she said.

"The first time my heat vision went off, it happened because I got upset," Kara said. "It was something stupid, looking back at it. I was so frustrated at being the strange girl at school and I was crying and then the next thing I know it happened, my heat vision just went off. At the time I was worried I wouldn't be able to control it but Clark explained to me that he went through the same thing. So, do you want to talk about why your heat vision activated?"

"It's not my heat vision, it's yours," Alex responded.

"You know what I mean."

Alex shrugged. "It was nothing."

"If it was nothing, then do it again," Kara said.

"What?"

"Use your heat vision."

"I thought we were taking a break."

"Break is over," Kara said. "We're out here alone, so it's safe. Come on, stand up."

Alex reluctantly stood up. "Fine, how does this work and I swear powers or not, if you say it just does, I will punch you."

"You did it once already, so it should be easy," Kara said. "Just think about what you were feeling when it activated that first time. Think about it, feel it and let it build inside of you then unleash it."

Alex turned back toward the dessert and stood there with her eyes closed for several moments before finally opening them. When she did she was staring intently out at the dessert but nothing happened.

"It's not working," Alex said turning back to her sister.

"Ok, well, why don't you tell me what you were thinking about when it went off the first time, and don't say nothing because I know that's not true," Kara said.

Alex turned back to the dessert again and appeared to again try to get the heat vision to activate but again nothing happened.

"Why won't you just tell me?" Kara asked.

"Leave it alone Kara."

"No, I'm not going to leave it alone," Kara said, grabbing her forearm and forcing her to face her. "What aren't you telling me? It can't be that bad."

"It was you ok," Alex said. "I was thinking about you and how pissed off I was at you, there, happy?"

Kara let go of her and took a step back. "Are you angry with me because you are stuck with my powers?"

"No, I was angry with you for telling me that I shouldn't protect you. You had no right to say that to me. I'm the big sister here and it's my job to protect you," Alex said raising her voice. "It doesn't matter if I'm just a human. I'm going to jump in front of an alien weapon every time if I think you are in danger and I can do something about it. So you don't get to say something like to me. Protecting you is my responsibility, not anyone else's. Dad gave me that responsibility and I'm not going to let him down. I'm not going to fail!"

Kara could see the red in Alex's eyes about a second before Alex turned away from her and heat vision shot out. It hit a rock formation and burned through it. Kara knew from her own experiences that Alex was generating a lot of power. This time though Alex was able to stop it on her own.

"Sorry," Alex said. "I shouldn't have gotten angry."

"It's ok," Kara said.

"No, it's not," Alex said. "You are already dealing with enough with losing your powers and trying to teach me how to use them, you don't need me yelling at you. I just need you to know that, I can't stop trying to protect you. So, please don't ask me to."

While Kara didn't want her sister getting hurt protecting her, she also knew that Alex wouldn't stop even if she did ask her to. Alex had said the key part to why she had to – 'Dad gave that responsibility and I'm not going to let him down."

"Alright," Kara said. "I won't ask you to."

"Thank you."

"Now let's try the heat vision again, but maybe with a little less on it this time."

"When do I get do something fun, like fly?" Alex asked. While she wouldn't admit it out loud, the one power that Kara had that Alex was kind of jealous of was the power of flight. She remembered the first time Kara had taken her out flying and how exhilarating it was.

"Do you think you are ready to fly?" Kara asked. They hadn't actually determined that she could but since she had the rest of Kara's powers it was assumed she did.

"Yeah, I'm ready," Alex smiled. This would be so much better than the heat vision or trying to keep from breaking everything.

"Ok, let's do it."

50 minutes later

Alex and Kara came back inside the DEO where they passed several DEO agents who did a double take at Alex whose shirt and pants were torn up and covered with sand.

They got to the locker room where Alex was going to change clothes and she turned to Kara. "Never mention this to anyone ever, especially Maggie."

"Mention what?" Kara said trying to sound innocent even though all she really wanted to do was laugh just a little bit – something she would not do in front of Alex if she valued her life. The flying lesson had not gone well. While Alex was able to use her strength to leap, she couldn't take it from a leap to actual flying. She had crash landed so many times Kara stopped counting them.


	5. Chapter 5

Alex was listening to a briefing from the science team in regards to her condition. Like when Kara was struck my lightning and infused LiveWire with power, they conjectured this was similar to that except obviously with different results. Alex asked questions and offered up some opinions but what she really wanted to do was be in a lab working the problem, but that wasn't possible as there was a lot of delicate equipment in the labs and clearly she had shown she wasn't ready for delicate.

Kara had left after their failed flight lesson to go home but not before she had to give a blood sample. Getting one from Alex had been impossible, which is why the science team was discussing something that she was glad Kara wasn't here for. Personally, Alex wasn't worried about what they were proposing because the science was sound – after all why should Kryptonite have any affect on Alex when she wasn't from Krypton.

They wanted to expose her to some – low level to see if she was weakened by it. If she was, they would quickly take a blood sample. If she wasn't well then, they might as well give up on getting a blood sample. As many times as she had crashed outside she would have thought she might have scraped herself or bled in some way but that hadn't happened.

Of course, she knew her sister was invulnerable to most things but still somehow hadn't expected to match her in that even if she did have her powers.

She hoped the kryptonite would weaken her even though she doubted it would because at least if they had a blood sample from her, they might be able to discover more about why Alex had gotten her powers.

This experience had given her a newfound respect for Kara. As Supergirl, she made it all look so easy, so graceful. Even as Kara, the amount of "delicate" touches she had to give things was extraordinary. It made Alex feel like she nothing more than a wrecking ball in comparison.

While Kara had said she was ok with the whole situation, Alex still had the feeling that something was bothering her sister. In fact, Kara seemed nervous right before she left the DEO and Alex had asked her if she was ok, and Kara assured her she was, but Alex didn't believe her.

As sisters they were always sharing things, but suddenly Alex felt like Kara was purposely not wanting to open up to her. Maybe it had to do with having Kara's powers. It would be natural for Kara to be worried that they wouldn't be able to get them back where they belonged – hell Alex was afraid of that – but whatever it was Kara wasn't turning to her about it. At least Kara had Lena in her life now, Alex thought, because if she felt she couldn't talk to Alex maybe she would tell Lena what was bothering her.

….

When Maggie first got the call from Kara she was worried something was wrong with Alex, but Kara assured her that her girlfriend was fine. Kara had left the DEO desert base and was on her way back into the city and wanted to know if Maggie could meet her for coffee. It was an odd request, and Maggie had been hoping to go out to the DEO base on her own to see Alex but she also knew Kara wouldn't be calling her if it weren't important.

So here she was waiting on Kara to get there so she could find out what was up.

She felt a little badly for wishing that Kara would make it quick too so she would still have time to drive out to the DEO. She didn't want to seem like a needy girlfriend, but she needed to see Alex. It's not like they hadn't spoken but even that came with difficulties as Alex had managed to break her own phone so the only real time they got to talk was when Alex was able to use video chat from a computer that was in the middle of the DEO which meant no privacy.

Not that she was expecting a lot of privacy if she physically went to the DEO, but just being able to see Alex in person would be enough.

She saw Kara coming through the door and she waved to her. Kara moved around the other tables to get to the one Maggie had selected – one that afforded some privacy as Kara had requested.

"Are you sure Alex is ok?" Maggie asked. She didn't really think that Kara lied to her but she wasn't taking any chances.

"She's fine," Kara said. "She's still trying to figure out how to use my powers without breaking every thing but I think she made progress today."

"Good. Now tell me what was so urgent that you needed to talk to me."

"I think Lena expects us to have sex tonight and while I would like to, what if I'm bad at it? I mean what if she has some expectation of me and I can't fulfill it and what do we do if I get my powers back and then we are right back to where we were and it's not like she and I haven't talked about it but now it's like we have this window of opportunity, but now I feel like this pressure to be super at it and what if I'm not?"

Of all the things that Kara could have said to her that ranked very low on the list of things she expected.

"Um … well … Ok …" Maggie said, still trying to process this. "Let's back up a bit. So you and her haven't had sex yet?"

"Not exactly."

She could hardly believe this conversation was about to take place. It's not like she wouldn't do anything for Little Danvers but the longer she had been dating Alex the more she looked at Kara as a little sister too. And this was not a typical conversation for sisters.

That's when Maggie realized, Kara probably didn't feel comfortable going to her actual sister about this which is why she was there.

"Kara, if you are wanting my advice or something here," Maggie secretly prayed that she wasn't wanting actual tips. "I need some more information than not exactly."

Kara looked around them as if to make sure no one was listening in. "We've made out, a lot and she's pleasured me but I haven't been able to return the favor, if that makes sense."

"Yes, that's a clear enough picture," Maggie said. "Now you said you thought she expected you to have sex tonight, why do you think that? Did she say something to you specifically? Or is this some sort of ultimatum on her part, because Kara, I got to say if that's the case then perhaps you need to reconsider your whole relationship with Lena."

"No!" Kara said a little more loudly than needed. "It's not like that. She would never give me an ultimatum."

"Ok, ok. Then why do you think she expects it?"

Again, Kara looked around them before leaning a little further into the table. "Because I don't have my powers."

Now Maggie was really confused. "What does you having your powers or not have to do with you and her having sex?"

"My powers are why I haven't … I don't want to hurt her if I lose control while …"

"Oh," Maggie said as she realized what Kara was trying to say without coming out and saying it. "So since you don't have your powers you think she is going to want you to fully participate?"

Kara nodded.

"Well, Kara, powers or no powers if you aren't ready to take that step, then you aren't ready and you shouldn't do it. I assume you and Lena have discussed why you two haven't fully engaged, so if you explain to her that you aren't ready."

"But I'm ready, I mean want to, but what if I'm not good at it?"

"You're just feeling insecure because you haven't done it before," Maggie said. "All I can say is, start with the familiar. You've experienced her, so think about what you liked with the things she did and just replicate it. Do that until you feel comfortable trying other things. I promise you, she's not going to think you are bad."

Kara didn't say anything at first, just sat back in her chair, still looking like a lost puppy and Maggie wondered if she should say something else or if she had said the wrong thing.

"I thought about breaking up with her," Kara said quietly.

"Break up with her? But you love her. Why would you do that?"

"Because, it's not fair to her. It's not fair that I can't show her how much I love in her in that way. She would never say anything or complain, but I feel bad about it," Kara admitted. "I feel like I'm not living up to my end of the relationship. And maybe this is just a sign that I can't be in a relationship with a human."

"Whoa, slow down, little Danvers. Sex is nice but it's not everything in a relationship," Maggie said. "There are great relationships out there that don't involve sex at all. If you want to be with Lena and she wants to be with you then it shouldn't matter."

"Do you really believe that?"

"Yes."

"What happens if my powers don't come back though and Alex is stuck with them, what about you and her?"

This time it was Maggie sitting back in her chair. She wasn't expecting this conversation to be turned around on her like that. She hadn't really given any thought about what would happen if Alex had these powers forever or what it would mean for them. She thought about the fact she hadn't seen Alex in a couple of days and even when they were at the DEO together here in the city, Alex had seemed more hesitant around her.

"You are going to get your powers back," Maggie said finally. "You have to believe that. And even if Alex had them, it doesn't change how I feel about her. I love her and powers or no powers she is stuck with me, which means you Little Danvers are stuck with me. Besides knowing Alex she'd find some scientific way to weaken her powers so it wasn't an issue. Wait, that's actually a pretty good idea. You could ask Alex if there is a way to lessen your powers so it's not an issue for you and Lena."

"I don't think I could do that."

"Why not?"

"There is a reason I'm here talking to you about this and not her. I don't want to know what my sister is doing in the bedroom anymore than she probably wants to know what I'm doing."

"Good point," Maggie smiled. "Well, maybe I can find a non-creepy way to bring it up to her so it won't be an issue for you and Lena going forward.

"Thank you," Kara said, getting down from the chair and giving her a hug. "I really appreciate having you to talk to."

"Anytime," Maggie said.

They said their goodbyes and Maggie immediately went to her car – she was going to the desert base to see her girlfriend. She wanted to dismiss what Kara had been concerned about but she couldn't do so completely. She loved Alex and would stay with her no matter what, but maybe Alex needed reassured of that.

…

Alex was recovering from the worst headache of her life when Maggie came in the infirmary. She was lying down but sat up when Maggie entered.

"Hey, you ok?" Maggie asked. "They told me you were down here, but no one would say why."

"We sort of did an experiment that did not go quite as well as I thought it would."

"What kind of experiment?"

"The kind that involved kryptonite," Alex said.

"Kryptonite, why would you be experimenting with kryptonite?" Maggie asked.

"I honestly didn't think it would affect me. I'm not Kryptonian so it shouldn't have," Alex said. "And it didn't exactly, at least not in how it affects Kara. It just gave me a headache and made me a little nauseous. It didn't weaken me so we unable to get a blood sample which doesn't exactly help us figure out anything. We're nowhere closer to figuring any of this out and getting Kara her powers back."

"I know you don't want to hear me say this, but you need to concentrate on yourself," Maggie said. "No one will ever question your dedication to Kara or the DEO, but you need to realize that there are other people around here who can figure out the why of how you got her powers and find out a way to get them back to her. You don't have to do it all. And you can't do it all. You're not …"

"Supergirl," Alex offered up. "Yes, I'm well aware."

"That's not what I was going to say. I was going to say, you're not in this alone."

"I know, but I'm the one stuck with her powers. I'm the one she is going to resent if we can't figure out a way to get them back where they belong."

"Kara is not going to resent you."

"Oh yeah, well, she's been acting odd ever since I woke up at the DEO with her powers. Every time I ask her what is wrong, she says nothing, but I can hear her heart beat now, I can hear it increase when I put her on the spot like that," Alex said. "She's not fine with this."

Maggie sighed. "Kara's got a lot on her mind, but believe me, it's not because of you having her powers."

"Then why won't she just tell me if it's not about me? She tells me everything, or at least she used to."

Maggie wasn't thinking she'd be having this kind of conversation with Alex so quickly after speaking with Kara, but she also knew Alex would continue to fret about what Kara had on her mind.

"Look, Kara called me and asked me to meet her for coffee tonight because she wanted to talk about something, something she didn't quite feel comfortable discussing with you because you are her sister. Because it has to do with her and Lena being intimate. She wanted some advice about that topic."

"Gross," Alex said. "My sister came to you for sex advice. Please tell me you didn't talk to her about what we do in the bedroom."

"I did not," Maggie said. "Kara's concerns have to do with the fact she and Lena haven't been fully intimate because Kara doesn't feel comfortable doing anything … to Lena … due to her powers. She has been worried about hurting Lena if she can't control her powers while …"

"Ok, enough of a mental picture," Alex said, stopping her.

"I talked to her and I think she feels better about what may or may not happen while she is without her powers. But you could tell that this was really bothering her. She even said she thought about breaking up with Lena because she didn't know if she could return Lena's affection the way she wanted to because of her powers," Maggie said. "I hadn't really thought about it until Kara mentioned it, but you don't feel that way do you … that you are going to hurt me because you have these powers?"

When Alex looked down, Maggie knew the answer before she said anything.

"Of course, I do," Alex said. "Look what I did to that hospital bed and the closet door and the wall back at the DEO main base and that was all within what 10 minutes of waking up. Not to mention the fire I started. I can't even hold a glass in my hand properly without smashing it."

"That's just because the powers are new to you," Maggie said. "You're going to become more accustomed to them the longer you have them."

"I don't want to become accustomed to them," Alex said.

"But you may not have a choice," Maggie said. "And if you have any crazy thoughts about pushing me away because you are afraid you might hurt me, you better put them out of you head. I'm here for the good, the bad and the ugly."


	6. Chapter 6

Alex laughed as she felt her body tear through the atmosphere at a high rate of speed. It had taken her a few more days since her disaster of a flight lesson and another week before it felt comfortable to her, but now she was doing it – she was flying – and it felt amazing.

There was something so exhilarating about breaking free from gravity and she wondered if this is how Kara felt every time she flew or if she didn't even think about it anymore since she was so used to it. Her sister had been a little scarce in the last week, but Alex knew it was not only due to her job and Kara and Lena seemed to be spending a lot more time together. Alex didn't want to think about what they were doing with that time, although based on the comment Maggie made the day after she had told her about Kara's issue Alex didn't have to wonder too much about what the two of them had been doing. And when she had seen Kara it was like there was a permanent smile on her face.

As for Alex, she had gotten a lot more adept at using Kara's powers. While she still had to be careful about how much pressure she exerted on an object, she had stopped breaking everything – just the occasional item. She was also no longer confined to the desert base as she had returned home once she had managed to go a few days without breaking anything – well if you didn't count the locker she had punched out of frustration after she had been denied in her request to go out on a mission with the team.

At home, she felt more at ease although she still wasn't fully at ease around Maggie. Her girlfriend was being so patient with her and Alex couldn't imagine dealing with all of this without Maggie at her side. But Kara's concern had become her concern whether she wanted it or not. She just didn't feel comfortable with the idea of being intimate with Maggie again because she didn't trust herself with these powers enough to be 100 percent sure Maggie would be safe.

But maybe that would come as she kept practicing.

The flight and the heat vision were also no longer issues. Even J'onn had joined her on a flight to give her some tips, especially since Alex had drawn one line in the sand – she wasn't wearing a cape. Yes, she understood that it helped Kara be more aerodynamic, but Alex didn't care, she would take her chances without it.

No one seemed to understand why she was being adamant about it. It was only last night that Maggie had broached the subject with her and Alex found herself explaining that to her, the cape represented Supergirl, and she wasn't Supergirl. Kara was practically the perfect super hero, but Alex, Alex could never see herself in that role even with the powers. Kara made a concerted effort not to hurt people, even people who had done unspeakable thing. Alex wasn't that good of a person she had told Maggie, even though Maggie quickly tried to say that she was.

Alex knew the truth though – she may be a good person, but she was capable of doing bad things. And with these powers, crossing any sort of line would make her a dangerous person.

So, no she wouldn't wear a cape because that was just a step too close in her mind to being a superhero.

"Alex, I need you to do what I say without argument or questioning right now," J'onn said through her com. The reason she was out at the desert base today was because J'onn had told her to meet him there, but when she arrived there was only a message waiting for her telling her that he would be there soon and she should take the time to go flying. "I need you to come back down to base, but I need you to crash land while doing it."

"What?" she asked, sure she had not heard him correctly.

"Just do it. Don't come in flawlessly. Crash and make it a bad one. I will explain, but I need you to trust me right now."

"Ok," she said, although she was still unsure as to why he was asking her to do this. She turned back toward the base and as she neared it, she saw J'onn along with two other people standing next to him in military uniforms. She had never crashed on purpose, but she knew she wouldn't be harmed so she came in wobbly and over shot them by half a mile and crashed at a high speed, causing earth to go flying into the air as she came to a stop in a small crater she had made.

Getting up and wiping some of the dirt off of her she began walking toward them as they walked toward her. She could see them speaking to J'onn so she concentrated to hear it.

"Is that the best she has been able to do?" the man asked J'onn.

"It is an improvement," J'onn said. "She was only able to sustain flight a couple of days ago, before that jumping high was all she could manage."

"What about her other powers?"

"Limited as well. Outside of the fire she caused at the main base, she has been unable to use the heat vision and don't get me started as to how many things she breaks with her super strength. I might suggest you forgo shaking hands with her as she is liable to break yours. She still can't control the hearing and has to lock herself away in a secure sound proofed room because she can't handle it."

Alex was confused as to why J'onn was lying to this man, whom she could now see was a general based on the uniform.

"Agent Danvers," the man said, holding out his hand. "General Conrad."

Alex took his hand and applied a little more pressure on it – not enough to break it, but enough to make it hurt.

"General," she said. "What brings you to the DEO?"

"You do Agent Danvers," he said after releasing her hand and shaking his slightly probably due to the bit of pain. "It is my understanding that you now have the powers of the Kryptonian Supergirl and I was sent here to see how you are progressing with them."

"I only have them temporarily."

"I thought that had not yet been determined," Conrad said.

"I have full confidence in our finding a way to return the powers to Supergirl," Alex responded.

"For argument sake, let's say that won't be an easy or quick process. How long do you think it will take you to master the powers?"

"I don't know," Alex said. "Right now, I'm just trying not to hurt anyone."

This conversation was making her uneasy and from what she could see it was a conversation that J'onn wasn't keen on it either. That had to be why J'onn had told the general that she wasn't doing well with the powers. But why?

"I've read your file, Agent Danvers," Conrad said. "You are an extremely intelligent and exceptional soldier. I wish I had a dozen just like you under my command. I have no doubt that you will get a handle on these powers in no time." This time he turned to J'onn. "I want updates on her progress every day. Who knows, by this time next week we could be setting up a demonstration."

"I will send you those updates personally," J'onn said.

Alex kept quiet even as the general told her to keep up her training. It wasn't until the general was driving away that Alex asked, "What was that all about?"

"That is a problem," J'onn said. "You are an employee of the U.S. government a fact the general has quickly latched onto. He knows he can't compel Supergirl to do anything since she is neither a U.S. government employee or even of this planet. You on the other hand are someone that the general believes will do whatever your government orders you to do."

"He wants me to use these powers for the military. That is why you had me crash and why you told him I couldn't control the powers."

"I thought it might buy us some time," J'onn said. "But we won't fool him forever. He sees a super soldier in you and he has already broached the subject of having you transferred to his command."

"But I'm not even in the military."

"Doesn't matter," J'onn said. "He is going to fight to get his way. To him, you are nothing more than a weapon he wants to use."

"I'm not going to use Kara's powers that way," Alex said. "I don't care if an order comes straight from the president. These aren't my powers to use. I shouldn't even have them."

"Which is why we need to figure out how to get them back to Kara, so I asked her to make contact with her friends over there on that other Earth, the ones from Star Labs. They might be able to come up with something we haven't thought of. It might require you to go there for some testing."

"I'll go wherever if it means getting Kara her powers back," she said.

….

Maggie walked next to Alex as they headed into the DEO to meet Kara so the sisters could travel to the other Earth. When Alex had told her about this General Conrad, Maggie was immediately concerned because she didn't want Alex put into such a position. So, when Alex followed it up with Jonn's suggestion of going to this Star Labs, Maggie was in complete agreement.

Still, she already felt like she hadn't gotten to spend much time with her girlfriend, which is why she at least insisted on seeing her off.

Last night she had spent the night at Alex's and had broached the subject of intimacy, but Alex was quick to point out that she wasn't ready yet. Maggie was fine with that as an answer – something she reassured Alex of – but she wanted Alex to know that they couldn't just ignore it either, which meant having an open and honest conversation about what they were both feeling.

Maggie meant what she had said – she wasn't going anywhere regardless of whether Alex had these powers or not.

She just needed to make sure Alex knew that.

They went down to an area that Maggie wasn't familiar with and she realized they were in some sort of storage area.

"What is this?" Maggie asked.

"Kara said it is better if we don't do this in a public area," Alex explained.

Speaking of Kara, there she was with Lena. Maggie couldn't help but smile at seeing the smile on Kara's face as she and Lena held hands and stood closely facing each other while speaking. Maggie glanced over at Alex and saw she too was regarding the other couple but not with a smile on her face. Instead, she looked sad.

Lena was the first to notice them and moved to stand beside Kara, still holding her hand.

"Hi, Maggie," she said. "Alex. How are you?"

"Good," Alex responded. "Just eager to get Kara's powers back to her before I'm drafted into the army."

"If you want, I could speak with my attorney about that situation," Lena said. "It may not solve the issue, but we could bury them in another paperwork to delay it."

"Thanks," Alex responded. "I will keep that in mind if this little trip isn't as successful as I hope."

"How does this work anyway?" Maggie asked. "The whole jumping to another Earth."

"My friend Cisco is going to open a breach between our world and theirs," Kara said. "And we'll just go through it and we'll be there in Star Labs where hopefully they can help us figure this out."

"Sounds easy enough," Maggie said. While she thought it was a good idea for Alex to lay low with this general being around, she wasn't sure what she thought her girlfriend being on a different Earth. But it wasn't like she could go with her. For one, she had to work and two with Kara and Alex gone, she was needed here in case anything major happened.

"Hey Kara, here is the …" Winn started to say before stopping. He had a small box in his hand.

"What's in the lead box?" Alex asked. She had tried to look into it already but had failed.

Winn looked over at Kara, which only caused Alex to move over to Winn and put her hand out. "Give it over?"

"No," Kara said, interceding. She took the box from Winn. "It's Kryptonite. Caitlin asked me to bring a sample."

"Do you think that is wise?" Maggie asked stepping forward. "The last time Alex was around that she got sick."

"It was just a headache," Alex downplayed it. "The fact it affected me at all could be important. It was a good call on Caitlin's part. I'm looking forward to meeting her and hearing her insights."

"Just keep it away from her as much as possible," Maggie said to Kara.

"Trust me, it feels odd even holding onto this."

They all turned toward a noise only to see the breach opening and then there was Cisco stepping out of it.

"Hi, Cisco," Kara said coming over and giving him a hug. "Thanks for doing this."

"Anything for you," he smiled. "So, introduce me to your team."

Kara approached Lena first. "This is my girlfriend Lena," Kara said.

"Pleasure," Cisco said. He was then introduced to Winn and Alex, but when they turned to Maggie, Cisco looked her up and down. "And who might this be?"

"I'm Maggie and I'm her girlfriend," Maggie said pointing at Alex who Cisco took a quick look and then backed up a step.

"Well, we'll take good care of your girl," Cisco said.

"You better," Maggie said. "Or the next time you open one of these breach things, you will find me standing in front of it waiting for you."

"And on that note, are you two ready?"

"Give us a moment," Alex said. She pulled Maggie aside. "Are you sure you are ok with this, you seem a little tense?"

"Yeah," Maggie said. "I just don't like this General Conrad wanting you to use these powers. I don't like that you have to go to another Earth to deal with this."

"I don't like it either," Alex said. "And I don't care who this general is, I'm not going to use Kara's powers in that way. If I have to stay on another Earth to do that, I will."

"As long as you aren't staying there permanently," Maggie said. "I would miss you."

"I miss you already," Alex replied, giving her a kiss.

It was a small kiss and Alex had mostly leaned in to give it to her. Maggie respected the boundaries that Alex had put in place out of fear, but Maggie would be lying if she said it wasn't hard to want to embrace her girlfriend and be embraced in return.

Like it used to be.

They walked back toward Cisco where Kara was also saying her goodbye to Lena whom she had pulled into her arms to give a kiss. Maggie noticed that Alex wasn't even looking them and when Kara finally joined her, Alex gave her a small smile before entering the breach with her.

Once the breach closed, Lena walked over to Maggie. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah," Maggie said. "I just hope this works."

"I do too."

Maggie turned toward her, "Are you sure wouldn't want to delay it just a little bit?"

"No," Lena said. "Kara needs her powers back. She needs to be Supergirl. Would I be fine if she never got her powers back, I don't know, but I know she wouldn't be fine. I'm sorry that you and Alex are having to deal with well you know."

"Yeah," Maggie said turning from where the breach had been and she began to walk out with Lena. "We'll be ok, I just wish she would talk about it."

"Alex doesn't strike me as much of a talker of feelings."

"No, she is not," Maggie said. "Usually, I let her have some time in her own head space before I start pressuring her to talk about things. Not to get too personal, but how was Kara with all of it when you too first started becoming intimate."

Lena stopped suddenly, forcing Maggie to stop. "Just between us?"

"Of course," Maggie said.

"I'm not sure I have ever seen someone get more embarrassed talking about sex than Kara gets," Lena said. "I've also never seen her blush so much."

"At least she will talk about it."

"Does Alex just refuse to talk about it at all?"

"Not entirely," Maggie responded. "It's more like she is hoping for a solution to present itself so it's not an issue so therefore she won't have to talk about it."

"Hopefully, she will get her wish with this little trip."

"Hope so," Maggie said, glancing back at where her girlfriend had disappeared.


	7. Chapter 7

The breach opened in Star Labs and Alex immediately began to circle and look around at her new surroundings. She was so engrossed in looking around that she almost missed the first introduction.

"This is my sister," Kara was saying to a young, smiling man. "Alex this is Barry."

Alex shook his hand. "So, you are the one who likes to occasionally to kidnap my little sister."

Barry glanced at Kara as if to ask if he should be afraid. "Well, um, she always comes back."

"Good thing for you," Alex said, then turned to Kara. "Are you faster than him?"

"Yes," Kara said at the same time Barry said, "No."

"Hopefully you all can help get these powers back where they belong and then maybe you two can race," Alex said.

She was introduced to the rest of Team Flash and Caitlin showed her to the lab, so they could get started. While they had brought Alex's medical file and all the information they had obtained about what happened, Caitlin insisted on starting from the beginning.

It didn't take long for Alex to realize that Caitlin really knew her stuff. Soon the two of them were talking non-stop not just about Alex's current plight but all manners of other scientific tangents.

Kara meanwhile spent most of her time with Barry and Iris, catching up on their lives. They took her to Jitters so they could talk while Alex was busy with Caitlin.

"You know I've lost my powers before too," Barry said, after they had all sat down. "It's rough going from being super to being normal. I'm just saying, I understand what you are going through."

"But if anyone can figure out how to get your powers back it's Caitlin," Iris said.

"I hope so," Kara said. "I miss being me. Ever since I came out as Supergirl, that's been such a big part of who I am. In some ways it's a bigger part of me than Kara Danvers is. The Fort Rozz aliens, that is my legacy to deal with and while I'm grateful for Alex and DEO, I still feel like I have to be the one that handles it."

"How is Alex?" Iris asked.

"I think she is enjoying some aspects of having my powers," Kara smiled. "But she also really wants to get them back where they belong. Since this has happened, she hasn't been able to spend much meaningful time with her girlfriend, Maggie, and now with this general trying to force her into using my powers for the government, she just wants things to return to normal."

"What about you?" Barry asked. "The last time we teamed up you couldn't stop talking about a certain girl. Lena wasn't it."

"Ooh," Iris said. "Do tell."

Kara tried to hide the smile behind taking a drink but failed miserably.

…

Alex sat on a chair in the lab as Caitlin asked her about her experience being exposed to the kryptonite the last time.

"It doesn't really make any sense," Alex said. "Kryptonite affects Kara and her cousin because they are from Krypton."

Caitlin considered this as she held the small lead box with the sample of kryptonite they brought with them. "It's possible that your DNA has been altered in some way."

"I considered that," Alex said. "But my invulnerability is causing issues with getting a sample."

"Surely, you have gotten one from Kara before."

"A few times," Alex responded. "Her powers have been known to burn out on occasion when she over uses them. And yes, we have used low level kryptonite on her before, which is why we tried it on me already. But since the kryptonite doesn't have the same effect on me, we've been stuck."

Caitlin again considered the box in her hands. "How long had they exposed it to you last time?"

"Ten minutes or so," Alex said. "Then I threw up."

"And you are sure you are ok with us trying this again?"

"I don't see any choice."

"Ok then, let's do it," Caitlin said. "First, we'll put some bio monitors on you and get you lying on one of the beds, that way if there is any change we will detect it and we will keep a bucket nearby just in case."

Alex nodded and headed to the bed. It wasn't long before Caitlin had everything ready.

"Now, I know from experience that doctors make the worse patients so Dr. Danvers, I need you speak up if this makes you uncomfortable in any way or if you feel pain."

Alex smiled, "yes, Dr. Snow."

Caitlin brought the box over and hesitated a moment until Alex nodded at her and then she opened it. The glowing green stone mesmerized Caitlin for a second and then she heard a sound of pain from Alex who was clinching her body into a fetal position. Her heart rate spiked a moment and then went down. Caitlin sat the box aside but kept it opening, hoping this risk was worth it.

"Alex, Alex, I'm going to try and take a sample," she said, grabbing the syringe she had sat there just in case it had become a possibility. She jammed the syringe in and it worked. She drew the blood out and immediately shut the box.

The moment she did, Alex 's eyes closed as she passed out.

…

When Alex opened her eyes, she saw Kara first, who was at her bedside with obvious concern. Lifting herself up, she saw Caitilin over by one of the work stations.

"What happened?"

"It was the kryptonite," Kara said. "You passed out. From what Caitlin said this was worse than what happened back on our Earth."

"But she got the sample, right?" Alex said, remembering now that the syringe went in.

"She did. But I should never have brought that kryptonite with us."

"No, it was a good idea. Plus, it worked, we finally got a sample that should hopefully tell us what we need to know," Alex said, getting out of the bed, despite Kara shaking her head. "Caitlin, do you have anything?"

"Not yet, but in a couple of hours we should have the test results back," she said. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm ok," Alex said. "Actually, I feel better than the last time as far as an after affect goes. The last time it felt like I had a hangover. Now, I have a slight headache but that is all."

"Is that normal, I mean for you Kara, to feel fine?" Caitlin asked.

"I would say yes. Low levels of kryptonite don't hurt me, they just weaken me. When I was first training to fight with Alex we used a room at the DEO that had kryptonite dampeners so that I wouldn't hurt Alex if I did hit her," Kara said.

"Which she wasn't very good at doing at first," Alex smiled. Her sister had come a long way since those first sparring sessions but she also remembered that Kara didn't like being told that she needed technique to go along with her power.

"Anyways," Kara said, shooting her sister a look. "When I am given a full exposure I lose all my strength and it makes me feel as weak as a baby. Depending on the level of exposure I might not even have the strength to get up. But once I'm away from it, I feel my power returning immediately. Usually, after a little bit of time being exposed to the sun I'm perfectly fine."

"But does it hurt you or just weaken you, because correct me if I'm wrong, but you were in pain Alex."

Alex nodded. There was no sense in denying it. From the moment Caitlin had opened the box it was like someone had shoved a sword through her abdomen.

"I don't know that pain would be the right word for it," Kara said. "It's really just a weakening, so yes, I do feel pain because I'm vulnerable at that point and it doesn't make me feel great, but it doesn't hurt if that makes sense."

Before anyone could say anything, an alarm went off.

"Caitlin, we need you up here," Iris said over the coms.

Caitlin didn't hesitate, and neither did Alex or Kara who followed. They got there and saw where Iris had several monitors showing a news alert of some sort of attack on the city.

"Grodd and King Shark have apparently teamed up and are causing mayhem downtown," Iris said. "We're going to need Frost."

Caitlin nodded, bowed her head slightly and then looked up as she transformed into Killer Frost. "You called," Frost smiled.

"Yes, as soon as Vibe gets up here, you and him need to meet Barry downtown," Iris said.

If she listened to Iris or not was hard to say as she approached Alex, looking her up and down. "You know Danvers, if you want an exam, I have access to all of Caitlin's doctory knowledge and I wouldn't mind helping you with your anatomy."

While Kara had warned her about this other personality of Caitlin's, this was somehow not what she was expecting and she stood there speechless.

"What's the matter?" Frost asked. "Worried that Caitlin might get jealous. Don't. We share everything."

"Come on," Cisco said as soon as he entered the room and used his power to open a portal.

"See you when I return," Frost said to Alex, winking at her, before turning and jumping though the breach with Cisco.

"Um," Alex said. "So, Caitlin and her, they know what each other's doing when they aren't …"

"Not entirely," Iris said. "Caitlin can explain it better."

Iris turned her attention to the screens in front of her and Alex and Kara stayed close, listening to Barry and the others relay recon back to Iris who then gave them commands on how to attack their adversaries.

"You have a giant man shark and a telepathic gorilla on this world?" Alex asked.

"Yes," Iris said. "Although the two of them working together is something new."

Alex was impressed with how Iris was handling everything. While she preferred to be out on a mission, she had to stay behind and do coordination like this before and she could tell Iris was a pro.

"Hate to interrupt, but we could really use some help out here," Cisco said. "Frost is down."

"Alex …" Kara said, the concern evident in her voice.

"Ok," Alex said looking from Kara to Iris. "Give me directions on how to get there."

"Wait," Iris said. "You can't just fly out there like that?"

"Why not?" her and Kara asked at the same time.

Iris ignored them both for a second. "Cisco, do you have anything that Alex can wear?"

There was a short pause. "Jessie's new suit, it's not done, but she would be able to fit into it. It's under the sheet on the back table in my lab."

Iris look at Alex, "down the hall, three doors down on the right."

Zooming from the room Alex was back in no time dressed in an all-black suit. She tossed something on the desk in front of Iris. "Now where am I going?"

Iris picked up the object Alex had tossed and tossed it back to her. "You are going to need to put that on," Iris said. "And let's get an ear bud for you so you can hear us."

Alex looked down at the item in her hand – a black eye mask. "You have to be kidding. Kara doesn't need a mask on our world, so I don't see why I need one."

"You need it because there is an Alex Danvers on this world that probably doesn't need to see herself on the evening news," Iris said handing her the ear bud. "Now put it on and go."

Alex hesitated a moment, put the ear bud in and then the mask and took off. Iris began feeding her directions. The ear bud also acted as a tracker and Iris could see where Alex was flying and give her course corrections.

"You're almost there, two more blocks up and a right," Iris said.

"Is that her speed?" Kara asked pointing at the ever-increasing number at the bottom of the screen.

"Yes."

"Alex, you need to slow down," Kara said. "If you try hitting anything living at that speed you are going to pulverize it."

Alex adjusted her speed as she came around the corner and saw the massive shark that was standing up like a man. Somehow seeing it in person made it seem even more absurd. She saw Cisco just trying to keep upright and not get hit by it and unable to use his own power against it as he was constantly on the move. Alex flew right at it and hit it with a right upper cut. The force of it knocked the shark off its feet and into the air, it landed back on the street with a ground-shaking thud.

It didn't knock King Shark out though as the brute started to get to his feet.

"Alex, sharks don't like the cold," Iris said through the coms.

Ok, Alex thought, I got this. She began to use her freeze breath on it, circling around it while flying, trying to coat all of him in cold. After a bit she could see he was getting sluggish so she intensified what she was doing until the shark wavered on his feet and then passed out.

"Thanks for the tip," Alex said. She saw Cisco next to Caitlin who was getting back to her feet. "Ger her out of here." A moment later Cisco was opening a breach and pulling Killer Frost through it.

She turned and saw Barry was still engaged with Grodd, although really all she was seeing was a red blur zipping around the giant gorilla.

"Flash, lead him this way," Alex said.

Listening to her instructions, Barry came toward her and she braced for Grodd who was coming at top speed right at her as Barry sped behind her. Grodd bounded right at her, swinging his arm, clearly ready to give her one hell of a right hook, but she stood her ground, grabbing the paw just before it connected with her.

Grodd was clearly surprised that she had stopped him, but it didn't take him long to recover as he immediately went into his next move – an attempt to grab her into a giant bear hug. Alex moved away as Flash came up and hit Grodd with a powerful punch. It didn't knock him down or anything, but it gave Alex the opening she needed as she swooped in from above and gave him a vicious right cross and then grabbed him while he was stunned and flew upwards. Holding such a large creature and maintaining her flight balance wasn't easy so she didn't go far, merely turned midflight and went down with him, slamming him into the concrete where he was knocked unconscious from the force of it.

"Thanks," Barry said to her.

"A telepathic gorilla and a giant man shark," she said, still looking at Grodd. "Unreal. And they aren't aliens?"

"Nope, nothing alien about them."

"Flash, Flash," one of the onlookers said. "Who is your friend?"

"Um, this is um," Flash said looking at Alex, who gave him nothing to say, so he said what came to mind. "This is Superwoman."

"What?" Alex said just under her breath.

"Just go with it," Barry whispered. "And wave."

"You have got to be kidding me," Alex said, but she forced herself to smile and wave at the ever-increasing crowd, most of whom had their phones out taking photos of her.

"Good job everyone," Iris said. "And thanks Alex. See you all when you get back."

Iris breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that Alex was there to assist them.

"There is really another Alex here?" Kara asked.

"Yes. When you sent the message, I thought I should check as we wouldn't want Alex running into her doppelganger," Iris said. "The Alex of this world actually lives in Coast City and is a pediatric surgeon at CC General."

Iris pressed a few keys and Kara was suddenly looking at this other version of her sister. Kara couldn't help but see how much more relaxed this Alex seemed and it was only a picture she was looking at. This Alex had gotten through med school and became a doctor – one that worked with kids.

"Is … is her father still alive?"

"What's his name?"

"Jeremiah."

Iris did a quick search and the next thing Kara knew she was looking at a picture of Eliza, Jeremiah and Alex on what appeared to be Alex's graduation day. She couldn't help but wonder if this is what Alex's life would be like if she had never come to Earth.

"He's alive here, I'm guessing you asked because he isn't alive in your world?" Iris said.

"We thought he died when Alex was a teenager, but we only found out recently that it wasn't true and he has been alive," Kara said. "It's a bit complicated."

"Are you going to tell Alex about her?" Iris said motioning toward the screen.

"I don't know," Kara said. "I'm not sure how she would react."


	8. Chapter 8

Alex walked in with Barry in the middle of a conversation.

"Why did you have to give them a name at all?" Alex was asking.

"I don't know. Aren't most of the heroes on your world named something and Superwoman just seemed logical since Kara is Supergirl," Barry responded.

"Not your best work," Cisco said. "I would have gone with … Artemis. Yeah, Artemis because she was a goddess who believed in protection."

Alex threw the mask down on the computer center. "Well, since that is the last time I plan on going out like this I don't suppose it matters what you call me. Now how is Caitlin?"

"I'm fine," Caitlin said coming into the room. "Just got knocked around a bit."

"Are you sure? I could check you out if you want."

"No, I'm good. Besides I'm not sure I could keep Frost from re-emerging if you are offering a check up."

"Oh," Alex said. "Does that happen a lot?"

"No, but she finds you attractive, very attractive, especially in that suit."

Alex looked down at herself, realizing she was still wearing it and she sped away and came back wearing her normal clothes.

"Seriously though are you ok? You said it yourself, doctors make the worst patients."

"I'm fine Dr. Danvers," she smiled. "In fact, I was going to check to see if your results were in yet if you want to join me."

"Let's hope we get some answers," she said starting to follow Caitlin into the lab.

"Alex, can I have a moment first," Kara said.

Alex indicated to Caitlin she should go on ahead and then ended up following Kara into the hall.

"Is everything ok?" Alex asked. "Did Barry calling me that bother you because I can speak to him about it?"

"No," Kara smiled. "I actually kind of liked it. When Cat first gave me the moniker of Supergirl I argued that it should be Superwoman. Of course, like most arguments with Cat I lost. No, that isn't what I wanted to talk to you about. Iris mentioned that there was another you here and when I asked about it she brought up some information on your doppelgänger. I just thought you should know if you want to know."

Alex paused, thinking this through a moment. She hadn't really thought about there being another her in this world, even with Iris mentioning it.

"What kind of info?"

"The Alex of this Earth is a pediatric surgeon in Coast City."

"I work with kids? Interesting."

"That's not all. Um Jeremiah is alive and it seems like he never left. There was even a picture of him and Eliza at what looked like your graduation from med school."

Alex didn't respond but Kara could see she was again thinking this through. She wondered what exactly she was thinking but knowing how smart her sister was there was no doubt Alex realized that on this Earth Kara never came into her life.

"Are they in Midvale or Coast City?" Alex asked finally.

"Midvale."

"Ok," Alex said taking a deeper breath. "Well I should get back to Caitlin. Thanks for um letting me know."

Alex walked away and Kara wasn't sure what to make of the reaction. Shock maybe. She hoped Alex wasn't upset with her for letting her know even though she had said thanks.

Iris came out into the hall.

"Did you tell her?"

Kara nodded.

"How did she take it?"

"I'm not sure. I think maybe she is still trying to process it."

"Was she close with her dad?"

"My time with him growing up wasn't very long so I didn't get to see them a whole lot but yes they were close. When we thought he was dead, I think it changed the way Alex interacted with her mom most of all. I think she felt like she had to step into an adult role a little faster than she would have especially with me around."

"Kara, I have only seen you and Alex together for a short time, but your sister loves you just as you love her," Iris said. "I'm sure she bares you no Ill will over how her life has gone."

"I know she doesn't, but I still feel guilty. I changed the course of her life the moment I entered it. She was recruited into the DEO because of me. Maybe she would have had a medical career like in this world if I hadn't come here. Even now, this situation, it doesn't happen if I'm not in her life."

"Alex wants you in her life, that is all that really matters."

Kara nodded, even if she wasn't so sure that was the truth. How could Alex not think about what her life would be like if Kara never came into it – especially now that she had an actual example of how it could have been. After all, Kara had spent a lot of time thinking about what her life would have been like if Krypton had never been destroyed.

…

Alex walked into the lab still thinking about what Kara had told her. In this world her father had never left – had never been presumed dead. She had grown up with both of her parents. And she knew immediately what that meant – it meant that in this world Kara either never came to Earth or never came into their lives.

"Everything ok?" Caitlin asked, seeing the far away expression on Alex's face.

"Yeah," she said, trying to shake off the emotions she was feeling. "Are the results in?"

"Yes," Caitlin said. "I was just waiting on you to bring them up." The moment they appeared on the screen in front of her, Alex recognized what she was looking at.

"That's Kara's Kryptonian DNA," Alex commented.

"Actually, it's not," Caitlin said. "That's your sample."

"What?" Alex said looking over the data more closely. "But that's not possible. Did the sample get mixed up?"

Caitlin called up another set of DNA markers which were human, yet as Alex looked closer at them and at the Kryptonian DNA, she began to see slight differences in each.

"Neither sample is completely what it should be," Alex said, pointing at one of the DNA strands. "You see there, that's human DNA, but the Kryptonian DNA, it almost looks as if it's …"

"It's taking it over," Caitlin said. "I don't think you just have Kara's power, I think your DNA is mutating into that of a Kryptonian, while Kara's DNA is becoming human. Look, this is the sample you brought from your world of Kara's DNA shortly after this happened. It was more Kryptonian then than it is now."

Alex could see that Caitlin appeared to be right. Kara's DNA was more human now than it had been. She could only guess that her DNA was also changing in a similar manner. Somehow, Alex hadn't just gotten Kara's powers, she was literally becoming Kryptonian.

"The Kryptonite," Alex said. "My first exposure to it, it barely did anything to me. But this time it did. It must because my DNA is more susceptible to it now."

"It would appear so, which means we need to ensure you are not exposed to it again."

"Based on the two samples how much time before Kara becomes fully human?" Alex asked.

"It would just be a guess as we don't know if the change is happening at a specific speed, but based on this, I would say anywhere between three to five weeks," Caitlin said. "Again, it's just a guess. But there is something else here."

She pointed to something in each sample that Alex didn't recognize.

"I think this is the cause of what is happening," Caitlin said. "It's dark matter."

"Dark matter, like what you have here on this world that gives the metahumans their powers?"

"Yes," Caitlin said. "Is it possible that the weapon that hit you was some sort of dark matter weapon?"

Alex shrugged. "We didn't have any information on the weapon and we hadn't found the alien who had done this either."

"I think you need to find that weapon," Caitlin said.

"Aren't you an expert on dark matter? Can you do something without us finding the weapon?"

"I can try, but I'm a little hesitant to," Caitlin admitted. "You aren't from here, which means dark matter could in theory act differently on your cells than say someone from here. Or dark matter may act slight differently on your world than ours. Then you have the fact we are dealing with Kryptonian DNA, not human. There are just too many variables."

Alex knew Caitlin was right to point these factors out but it didn't make her feel any better about it.

"Look, I can get started on a few things," Caitlin said when Alex remained silent. "But I think your best bet is getting that weapon."

"You're right," Alex said. "I guess, Kara and I should prepare to go back to our world."

Alex ended up pulling Kara aside so she could speak to her about what they found out. She trusted Caitlin to fill in the others, but her sister needed to hear it from her in private.

"So, I'm becoming human?" Kara said once she revealed what they had learned.

"Looks like," Alex said.

"And it could become permanent?"

"We don't know for sure," Alex said. "But we think it will be easier to reverse if we get it before your DNA fully converts."

They were in one of the Star Lab offices and Kara, who had been standing up this entire time, finally took a seat. Alex felt bad seeing her sister process this information. Supergirl was as much if not more a part of her as her Kara Danvers side was and even though before all of this they didn't know if they could get her powers back, this had taken on a complete other complexity.

"I'm sorry," Alex said. "I shouldn't have interfered there at the pier and none of this would have happened. You were right, I risked my life needlessly when I should have trusted you to get the job done."

"It's not your fault," Kara said.

"Regardless, I'm going to do everything I can to fix it. I promise."

Kara, who still looked like she was reeling from this new information, looked up at her sister. Funny, she thought, here was Alex who up until this incident was merely a human, yet even with all of Kara's powers, she still remained the same person, still cut an imposing figure and still put Kara first. When she first started using her powers again when she came out as Supergirl, Kara felt like a piece of her that had been missing was finally found. She knew what she wanted to do, she knew she wanted to use those powers to protect her adopted planet of Earth.

Yet, Alex with or without those powers, still had the same drive to protect. The powers didn't change, they didn't even enhance her personality in anyway.

Kara felt proud of Alex suddenly. Yes, she was always proud of her sister, but seeing her respond to the call for help – even though it meant wearing a costume and mask which she knew her sister hated – she felt somehow more connected to her.

"We should get back then," Kara said, standing up.

Alex nodded, "Let's say our goodbyes for now."

"Wait," Kara said as Alex made to leave the room.

"What is it?"

"Nothing, I just wondered if you wanted to take a bit more time to maybe go see Jeremiah."

Alex looked down for a moment and then at Kara. "I don't think that would be a good idea. He's not my dad. He's the dad of this world's Alex."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," Alex responded. "As much I want to see my dad again, seeing the one from this world wouldn't be the same."

…

Alex sat on her couch, not paying attention to the show that was on television or for that matter Maggie, who was standing at the kitchen counter watching her. Ever since she and Kara had returned from that other world, Alex hadn't said much at all and Maggie knew she would probably have to push Alex a bit to get to the heart of what was going on in her girlfriend's head. Yes, Alex explained about their DNA changing, but Maggie wasn't entirely sure that it what was bothering her because she had talked openly about it at the DEO upon returning.

She moved away from the counter with the cup of coffee she had brewed for herself and took a seat on the couch next to Alex.

"Good show?"

"Huh?" Alex said.

"You have been staring at the television for a while now, but I doubt you know what is going on in that show," Maggie said. "So why don't you shut it off and talk to me."

Alex didn't look at her, but she did turn the tv off.

"In that other world, there is another me," Alex said finally. "And the me of that world, her life is different than mine."

"Well, I guess that's probably pretty understandable. I mean from what I gathered lots of things are different. We don't have a superhero named the Flash here and they don't have a Supergirl there."

Alex looked at her. "Exactly. There is no Kara, so my father … the one from there, he never left to go work for the DEO. He never disappeared. And I … she became a pediatric doctor. And her both of her parents are still there. Kara asked me if I wanted to go see him … and I said no because that's not my dad, but …"

"But you want to see him."

Alex nodded.

"You and Kara are going to have to go over there for Caitlin to help you so you can always see him then."

"What if seeing him just makes it worse?"

"Makes what worse?"

"The pain I feel inside every time I think about losing him again?"

Maggie could see some of that pain on Alex's face now. She scooted closer and put her arm around Alex. "I don't know if it will make it harder or not," Maggie said. "And I will be there for you whatever you decide but only you can make this decision."

She heard Alex take a deeper breath. "Even knowing that Kara had been to this other Earth before, knowing that there were other Earths out there, I never really thought about it you know," Alex said. "I never considered that there were other versions of me, living lives that are different than mine. Now that I know, it's just hard to wrap my head around I guess."

"I know," Maggie replied. "The idea that my girlfriend just went to an alternate Earth is strange even for us. I mean for all we know, I'm not your girlfriend in that world."

"Well, you're my girlfriend in this world so that's all that matters," Alex said, giving her a kiss.

Maggie kissed her back and things quickly began to heat up between them as both women had missed each other's touch. Maggie was just about to suggest they go to the bedroom when Alex pulled back suddenly. Well, Maggie thought, it was time for the intimacy talk, but she noticed Alex didn't appear to be with her in the moment, in fact she seemed to be concentrating on something.

"What is it?"

"Fire," Alex said. "Sounds big, lots of trucks."

Maggie could almost see the internal struggle now going on in Alex's head. "Go," Maggie said. "Don't think I don't know that the duffel bag you brought back with you from that other Earth had some sort of super suit in it."

Cisco had insisted Alex take it with her, despite her protests and it was currently sitting in the closet of her bedroom – a place she never expected to take it from.

"I can't," Alex said. "If I go, there is no way the general doesn't know it's me out there. That would be like handing over Kara's powers to him. No. There were fires before Supergirl and she can't be everywhere."

Even though she said it, Maggie watched as Alex got off of the couch and went over to the window to look out of it.

Maggie stared doing a mental countdown from 20 – she didn't even get to 13 before Alex had wooshed into the bedroom and out of the apartment. She was going so fast, Maggie didn't get to see the suit.

…

Alex thought about how this was a horrible idea on her part in the seconds it took her to reach the scene of the fire, but when she heard there were families trapped inside the apartment building that was now on fire, she felt like she didn't have a choice. Still, she paused just a moment in the sky before heading in.

Unlike on the other Earth, Alex saved the people and put out the fire as fast as she could, never pausing for people to see her. Hopefully, the public would just think that Supergirl had swooped into action. But as she finished and went into the upper atmosphere to take a breather, she knew that she crossed a line in doing this and all she could do is hope that they could find the alien weapon and get it to Caitlyn.

Hovering above the city like that, she looked down once more at this suit she was wearing. Since it was a work in progress on Cisco's part for another speedster, it really didn't seem much different than what she wore at the DEO yet it felt different to her regardless.


End file.
